Category: Political Campaigns

George Soros settled in the US in 1956 and began working as an arbitrage trader for F.M. Mayer. He rode on the popularity of European stocks in the US market to build a successful investment portfolio and a platform for his ventures. Over the years, Soros became active in political activities funding Democratic candidates across the country. His biggest involvement came in 2004 where he spent over $27 million in a quest to defeat President George W. Bush. The concluded presidential elections in the United States also enjoyed a great deal of his political involvement. Records from the Federal Election Commission cite that Soros donated more than $25 million in support of Hillary Clinton and other Democratic candidates. He was also among the high dignitaries expected to attend the event where Hilary Clinton accepted the nomination as the president-elect for the Democrats. Much of this was as an attempt to fight off Donald Trump whom Soros accused of working with ISIS and was a big threat to his international interests. Read his profile at Forbes.

Soros political involvement in the United States extends to support of activists and human rights’ movements. He is among the biggest financiers of social and political movements’ that fight for the rights of the minority. Intelligence reports indicate that George Soros through his Open Society Foundations funded most of the groups involved in Ferguson protests to a tune of over $33 million in one year. The different organizations that took part in the protests sought for deep grass root support from different quarters and joined through social platforms to plan for a mega event. The protests aimed at highlighting the growing divide between the police and local communities and a call for action to mend the relationship and create a better society.

Reviews by the Washington Times on financial records indicate that Soros funding of various groups across the United States spurred the protests in Ferguson. In an interview with The Washington Times, Kenneth Zimmerman the director of Open Society Foundations indicated that the funding aimed at improving participation of communities in governance. Through the creation of policies, collecting data and undertaking research the community is empowered to be more accountable in governance. Visit projectsyndicate.com to know more about George.

Ferguson protests lasted for more than a month with an aim to highlight racial discrimination and over policing alongside other inter-related issues. Activists from Chicago, New York, Sojourners, and Washington arrived in buses to take part in the protests all from groups under the funding of George Soros. The event also attracted a wide media attention with blog posts, videos and press releases from the protests being released online. Mr. Fellows, the co-founder of Millennia Activists United, explained how different groups took part in planning and as well participated in the protests that were initially set to take place in a single day but lasted for a whole month.

Betsy DeVos, the wife to Dick DeVos, is not only an entrepreneur but also a reformer as well as a philanthropist. The DeVoses family is a lineage that has for many years had active engagements in philanthropy. The love for people has forced Betsy, with the help of her husband to support courses that advocate for the empowerment of minority groups. Mrs. DeVos involvement in philanthropy has primarily centered on education, leadership, and art. However, education has been the main thing that Betsy has concentrated in over the years, and to this end, President Donald Trump, her longtime friend took notice. In his young cabinet, President Trump appointed Betsy as the eleventh Secretary of Education, a position that she has taken humbly. Visit Betsy’s profile page on Facebook.

For many years, Betsy has supported schools that offer tertiary education since it is such institutions that equip students with the technical skills they need to help grow the country’s economy. In particular, Betsy DeVos has offered monetary support to bright children from families that cannot afford to send them to school. Besides, Betsy the reformer has labored to see to it that certain aspects of the American education challenge change. For instance, she has advocated for policies that encourage schools to offer students with better learning standards as well as increase the number of programs offered per institution. Over the years, more children have been fortunate enough to get slots in public and private schools, a sign that Betsy DeVos is doing a good job. Moreover, the number of students graduating from college with honorary accolades has relatively increased thanks to Betsy DeVos.

DeVos, a faithful Christian has always believed in real leadership. Since she believes that the United States of America needs integral leaders so that it can prosper, she has offered monetary support to some selected Christian institutions so that they can provide their students with the best leadership training possible. One school that has been a primary beneficiary to Betsy’s philanthropy is the Potter’s House Christian School. Because of reforms in the education sector, children in America can now go to schools that are not in their zip codes. Soon, Betsy Devos as the American Secretary of Education might bring technology to schools. She believes that modern innovations have the potential of making learning easier and better. Thus, technology is something that she might consider soon. Mrs. DeVos is also optimistic about charter schools and home schooling, provided that children get access to quality education. At the end of the day, Betsy DeVos wants parents to take their children to schools that have the capacity to nurture their studies so that they can become highly qualified professionals. According to Betsy, education is important, but then it has to be quality education.

Since school choice and educational reform has been a passion of Betsy DeVos for the past 30 years, she was a natural choice for the office of Secretary of Education and was approved and sworn in on February 7, 2017. Her desire to help parents provide the best education possible for their children and to help low income children access a quality education translated into a successful movement nationwide. Her effort includes board memberships on Kids Hope USA and the Foundation for Excellence in Education as well as chairman of the American Federation for Children and the Alliance for School Choice. Betsy DeVos spoke of the progress the educational choice program was making and the increasing number of students and states nationwide in an interview with Philanthropy Magazine in 2013. Now as the 11th U.S. Secretary of Education, those wanting better educational options for their children has a champion in office.

Known for their philanthropy, the DeVos family is also known for their hard work in the political arena to improve and support community services. In fact Betsy’s husband Dick was elected to the State Board of Education of Michigan in 1990. When their efforts failed to pass a state constitution that allowed tax credit scholarships and vouchers, Betsy Devos started a foundation to give low income families scholarships to allow parents to decide where their children attend school. She not only gave money to a cause, she rolled up her sleeves and got to work advocating and serving as an in school mentor to at risk children in the Grand Rapids Public Schools. She gained valuable insight interacting with the students, families and teachers. She also worked to help craft legislation, support candidates, and help students find schools once legislation was passed. As the U. S. Secretary of Education, she will hopefully have greater reach and gains.

In the 2013 interview, Betsy DeVos also spoke of the potential influence of virtual schools, magnet schools, home schooling and charter schools as school choice options for children and their parents. In her new role, Betsy now has the opportunity to work passionately on her dream that all parents have the ability to choose the best educational setting for their children and that all children have a chance to live up to their potential. Her commitment can bring about great things for education in America. Visit Betsy’s profile page on facebook.com.

The non-profit organization will be the first to combat campaign finance reform since the U.S. Supreme Court 5-4 ruling. The ruling on endcitizensunited.org was in direct contrast to the bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2003. The court’s decision broadens the laws governing contributions received by politicians.

The mission for End Citizens United is to have that ruling overturned.

End Citizens United formed an alliance with U.S. voters to bring change to the political system by assuring there will be campaign finance reform. At the core of their mission is to bring transparency and accountability to the political process. They have set out to stop corporations and billionaires from infiltrating an already rigged and imbalanced system.

Supporters of the mission are enormous in size and in voice. U.S. citizens came together principally to make sure democracy is upheld in America. The approximately 325,000 supporters on endcitizensunited.org that began in 2015 will grow to four million this year. It is believed that 78% of Americans believe the Supreme Court’s decision should be overturned. The support received is completely bipartisan.

The task of bringing change to the political system on Facebook has built momentum and the past election season has only fueled the continued support.

In order to transform the system, End Citizens United has aligned its mission of reform to putting an end to electing politicians that do not support campaign finance reform. It is an essential part of their agenda for changing the landscape of the political process.

End Citizens United is setting the bar high for the organization by maintaining their ethical and integrity standards with how they have reached out to the supporters to attain their goal. End Citizens United believes that it has received an out-pouring of continuous support of their mission because U.S. citizens have seen it as the reality-check that is needed in the political system.

End Citizens United describes what has occurred in the political systems as a “fundamental erosion of our democracy.” They’ve lead a steadfast charge against a system they believe is completely vulnerable to the highest bidder for a politician. They want to put an end to the unrestricted flow of money into elections. The organization is determined in helping citizens stand up to politicians by continuing the movement.

Donations for the organization continue to surpass expectations for any grass roots organization of its kind. The initial pledged donations reached in the millions for End Citizens United and it is highly expected to reach $30 million this year.

The efforts by End Citizens United will not only bring reform, but it will have shown what supporters can accomplish when the cause is greater for many, than the power is for a few.

Algorithms and strategically positioned content on social networks are far more effective than journalistic reports and newspaper endorsements for political campaign purposes.

The social media campaigns of the Trump election in the United States and the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom are the two best examples of how politics have come to ignore traditional media in favor of engaging audiences online.

According to a recent analysis by Damian Tambini of British newspaper The Guardian, the Brexit referendum was boosted by the decision of the campaign directors to not spend millions of pounds in traditional advertising outlets such as newspapers, radio and television. The marketing agencies behind the campaign to leave the European Union determined that social media was not only a cheaper but also more efficient option than traditional option. Besides, British radio and television outlets tend to follow the views of the staid BBC, which is pretty much a pro-EU media outlet.

With regard to the Trump campaign, the stakes were higher and riskier because of the powerful, established opponent Hillary Clinton, who was the overwhelming favorite of the traditional media establishment. With nearly zero newspapers giving endorsements to Trump, the social media counteraction was swift and extremely effective.

The advantage of political campaigns conducted in social media is that they do not require the ability to spin issues, something that Trump is not very good at because he comes across as a snake oil salesman. Social media campaigns are about concrete goals such as getting more votes by any means necessary.